Technical Note Chingford to Stratford Rail Service – Operational Feasibility Review
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TECHNICAL NOTE CHINGFORD TO STRATFORD RAIL SERVICE – OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY REVIEW IDENTIFICATION TABLE Client Waltham Forest Council Project Chingford – Stratford Rail Service Feasibility Operational Feasibility Review – Scheduling Exercises : DRAFT Title of Document v 1 Date 21/10/2016 Reference number 10425612 Number of pages 14 (plus Appendices) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 BACKGROUND 2 1.2 OBJECTIVE 2 1.3 APPROACH 2 2. SERVICE / OPERATIONAL PATTERNS (2016) 5 2.1 PASSENGER SERVICES 5 2.2 EMPTY COACHING STOCK (ECS) 5 2.3 FREIGHT / INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES 6 3. ADDITION OF PLANNED AND PROPOSED PASSENGER SERVICES 6 3.1 THE ADDITIONAL SERVICES 6 3.2 KEY ASSUMPTIONS AND PARAMETERS 6 3.3 OFF-PEAK 7 3.4 MORNING PEAK 9 3.5 EVENING PEAK 11 4. WIDER CONSIDERATIONS 12 5. CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY 13 1 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.1.1 In 2009, Waltham Forest Council, commissioned an appraisal of a proposal to introduce a direct rail service between Chingford and Stratford, requiring reinstatement of the abandoned Hall Farm curve, connecting the Chingford branch with the direct Tottenham Hale – Stratford route (at Lea Bridge Junction, north of Lea Bridge station). This appraisal was undertaken by Systra, then known as MVA Consultancy. 1.1.2 An earlier report, undertaken by Hyder Consulting and Maines Consulting in 2002, had demonstrated the technical feasibility of this reinstatement; the 2009 Appraisal confirmed that the demand for such a service would be sufficient to support a strong business case for the scheme. 1.1.3 The 2009 Appraisal also confirmed that, against the background of the passenger train services and other train movements (principally freight) operating at that time, it would be operationally feasible to introduce such a service, at a frequency of generally 4 trains per hour (tph). 1.2 Objective 1.2.1 SYSTRA Ltd has been commissioned by Waltham Forest Council in September 2016 to undertake a fresh assessment as to the operational feasibility of a 2tph service, in the light of significant changes to railway infrastructure and train service / operating patterns which have taken place since 2009 and which are planned for the medium-term future. The principal changes identified are: In 2011, a major new carriage stabling and maintenance facility was opened on the site of the former Temple Mills freight yard, that is, on the east side of the Stratford to Tottenham Hale route, replacing the former facility at Thornton Fields; The frequency of the passenger train service along the Stratford to Tottenham Hale route, already increased from 1 to 2tph, is planned to be increased to 4tph by 2019; Meanwhile, Lea Bridge station reopened in May 2016. 1.2.2 It must be noted that for this assessment we do not have a specific planned 2018 timetable available over which the Chingford – Stratford service can be overlaid in the same way as it was on the existing timetable in the 2009 study. It has therefore been necessary to develop our own timetable at a high level to demonstrate whether or not all the planned services plus the additional Chingford – Stratford service can, at least in principle, be accommodated. 1.3 Approach 1.3.1 Existing and already planned levels of service (frequencies) for the various components of traffic over the respective sections of existing line, across the whole of the ‘traffic day’ (i.e., when passenger trains operate), Mondays to Fridays, were reviewed, principally using the current (May – December 2016) Network Rail Working Timetables (WTTs) but supplemented by recent actual running data (various dates in September 2016) from Realtime Trains. From this, the traffic day was subdivided into periods with different operating / traffic characteristics, with specific reference to the routes directly or indirectly relevant to the proposed new service. 2 OUTLINE ROUTE SCHEMATIC Showing Route Connections CHINGFORD 10m 33ch Highams Park 8m 52ch Wood Street 7m 7ch Tottenham Hale 6m 0ch Hall Farm E Jn (or Barn Croft Jn) Walthamstow 4m 74ch * via Hackney Central 6m 16ch (7m 16ch * via Stratford) Coppermill Jn St James's Street 5m 55ch 4m 74ch via Hackney (7m 14ch via Stratford) Hall Farm Curve (0m 32ch *) Clapton Jn 4m 38ch Lea Bridge (or Hall Lea Bridge 6m 30ch Farm) Jn 6m 64ch * Orient Hackney Downs Temple Mills Way 2m 78ch West Jn 5m 78ch Carriage Sidings Temple Mills Loop London Fields 2m 35ch Ruckholt Road Jn 5m 16ch High Cambridge Heath Lea Jn Meads Temple Mills 1m 61ch Jn East Jn 4m 45ch Channelsea Jn Bethnal Green (Olympic Park Jn 4m 21ch) 1m 10ch STRATFORD 4m 00ch Bow Freight LIVERPOOL STREET 0m 00ch Terminals Carpenters Rd Jns & Curve 1.3.2 ‘Pinch point’ locations were identified, by analysis of movements, existing and planned, from the various platforms, crossovers, junctions etc. on the route, where desired throughput would be the most demanding. 3 1.3.3 For each period of the day as identified in 1.3.1, a scheduling pattern (sample hour timetable) was compiled (designed), to balance optimal throughput and even service intervals – for the morning peak, two operating scenarios were designed, for reasons explained below. 1.3.4 Within this process, constraints and trade-offs were identified, where compromises were desirable or essential for the operator (LOROL / Abellio Greater Anglia) or transport authority (TfL / DfT), principally regarding layovers and service ‘self-containment’, but also considering alternative routeings for non-passenger movements. 1.3.5 The scheduling patterns for respective periods are illustrated in both graphical and tabular form, in Appendices 1 to 4. To / from Olympic Way CS / Coppermill Jn STRATFORD (PARTIAL) TRACK DIAGRAM - showing reversible and non-reversible sections of track Olympic Park Jn (crossovers) STRATFORD To (Lea Valley Channelsea platforms) Junction Stratford To Liverpool Central Street and Bow Junction Freight Terminal COPPERMILL To / from Tottenham Hale / Angel Road / Bishops Stortford JUNCTION TRACK DIAGRAM Existing track layout New reversible 'third line' and connections To / from Stratford To / from Liverpool Street via Hackney Downs 4 2. SERVICE / OPERATIONAL PATTERNS (2016) 2.1 Passenger services 2.1.1 Over the northern part of the route, between Clapton (/ Hall Farm East Junction) and Chingford, services run at generally 4 trains per hour (tph) with generally even intervals: this is not increased at peak hours. Chingford has two platforms (nos. 2 and 3) which can be used for both inward and outward passenger services: this provision is ample for this level of service. 2.1.2 Our previous report demonstrated that the operational feasibility of running a further 4tph over the Chingford branch to Stratford. None of the assumptions upon which this finding was based have changed since 2009 or are planned to change by 2018, so we have concluded this this position will still hold for the 2018 timetable and that no further detailed analysis of the Chingford branch itself is necessary in this report. 2.1.3 Between Tottenham Hale (/ Coppermill Junction / Lea Bridge Junction) and Stratford, 2tph, at mostly even intervals (adjusted around the beginning / end of peak periods), run to / from (generally) Bishops Stortford. These all operate via the most direct route in the Stratford area, arriving at / departing from the north-east end of platforms 11 and 12, over the crossovers known as Olympic Park Junction. These trains all terminate at / start from Stratford, principally platform 11 - though some use platform 12 to make space for the occasional non-passenger working which needs to use platform 11. At present, generous layovers, of around 20 minutes, are the norm; hence, platform 11 is generally ‘dedicated’ to this service, with empty / freight movements routed through platform 12. 2.1.4 No passenger services currently operate via the alternative route (through High Meads Junction and Stratford Central Junction) to approach / depart from the western end of Stratford station. This route is believed to be usable by passenger services – it certainly has been so used at various periods in the recent past – but no such scheduled use is proposed in this review. 2.1.5 London Overground’s North London Line services, from Richmond / Clapham Junction to Stratford, operate at up to 8tph in the peaks, and use recently-constructed platforms 1 and 2. This route crosses the one mentioned in 2.1.3 above, at Channelsea Junction; and, while not directly affecting the core routes under review, it is significant within the complete picture insofar as it constrains availability / usable capacity of alternative routeings. 2.1.6 Great Eastern Main Line services, between Liverpool Street / Crossrail and points east of Stratford, use different platforms and tracks and need not be considered for this review. 2.2 Empty Coaching Stock (ECS) 2.2.1 At the beginning of the [passenger] traffic day, and of the weekday evening peak period, empty trains run into Liverpool Street from the principal carriage stabling facility for the area, Orient Way Carriage Sidings (OWCS), which are on the east side of the line between Lea Bridge and Stratford stations. Flows in the opposite direction operate at the ends of the morning peak and the [passenger] traffic day. These flows need to operate at up to 8tph, for periods of around 1.5 hours during the traffic day. At present these all operate through Stratford station, principally platform 12; however, an alternative route exists via Channelsea Junction and High Meads Junction, though this does ‘cross’ the busy North London route (see 2.1.4). 5 2.2.2 At the times when these flows operate, they are the dominant flows over the route between Stratford and Ruckholt Road Junction (the track connection for Orient Way Carriage Sidings). At present, the passenger service, which runs at only 2tph, can be accommodated simultaneously with little difficulty.